


Into the Forest

by JellyfishOfChaos



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Butterfly Ex-Machina, Creepy Bill Cipher, Demon Bill Cipher, M/M, Manipulation, Manipulative Bill Cipher, Oblivious Dipper Pines, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Spelunking, Woodland Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyfishOfChaos/pseuds/JellyfishOfChaos
Summary: Everyone in Gravity Falls knew to stay away from the forest. People who went in there never come out. No one knew what hid in the darkness behind the trees, and most people weren’t willing to risk being stuck in there forever to find out. Children knew to avoid it on their way home from school, hunters knew if they wanted to go hunting, they would have to make the trip to a neighboring town’s forest, high schoolers knew not to plan parties or bonfires there. There were theories that witches lived there and stole people away for spells, or that there was a monster that ate anyone who entered, or even just a run of the mill serial killer who trapped and killed lost people. Whatever the truth was, it was understood throughout the entire town that the forest was not to be entered.When Dipper Pines ignores all this and goes into the forest, he meets Bill Cipher, and they try to get out of the forest that no one has got out of together.
Relationships: Bill Cipher & Dipper Pines, Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines
Comments: 92
Kudos: 184





	1. Follow the Butterfly

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction ever, so be gentle. Or don't, I can't tell you what to do

Everyone in Gravity Falls knew to stay away from the forest. People who went in there never come out. No one knew what hid in the darkness behind the trees, and most people weren’t willing to risk being stuck in there forever to find out. Children knew to avoid it on their way home from school, hunters knew if they wanted to go hunting, they would have to make the trip to a neighboring town’s forest, high schoolers knew not to plan parties or bonfires there. There were theories that witches lived there and stole people away for spells, or that there was a monster that ate anyone who entered, or even just a run of the mill serial killer who trapped and killed lost people. Whatever the truth was, it was understood throughout the entire town that the forest was not to be entered.

Dipper Pines knew the stories. He was well aware of the town’s aversion to the forest. Unfortunately, he had always been very curious, with an intense need for knowledge, and the inability to leave any mystery unsolved. Him and his sister had visited Gravity Falls every summer since the age of 12, and every year, without fail, Dipper would be drawn to the forest. His Grunkle Stan warned him away from it, watching him like a hawk when he expressed interest in looking around, so Dipper resigned himself to wandering by the forest’s edge, looking in as far as he could to see if he could make out anything that could cause the unease. All he ever saw, though, was an endless expanse of trees.

This was their sixth summer in Gravity Falls, the summer before Dipper and Mabel headed off to college, and Dipper was once again sitting at the edge of the forest, staring in, hoping to catch a glimpse of something.

It was just a normal day, mid-summer, and Dipper was reading a book, only occasionally glancing into the forest. He hadn’t given up hope yet that he would see something and solve the mystery, but now the edge of the forest was one of his few constants. Sitting there with his book or his phone or his planning sheets for Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons, had always been able to calm him down, and it gave him a place to take a break from his family, who he loved, but they could be a bit much at times. 

He was just turning the page when a movement caught his eye. He jerked his head up, staring into the forest. For a minute, there was nothing, just an eerie silence, then seemingly out of nowhere, a butterfly appeared. It was a soft yellow color, with black lines trailing across its wings, almost looking like an eye inside a triangle. Dipper stood quickly, snapping his book shut, so he could have a better look at the butterfly. It was beautiful, and Dipper grabbed his phone so he could look up what type it was. His internet search gave him nothing. There were butterflies with eyespots, and even yellow ones, but none of them looked quite like the one before him. He opened his camera app, intent on taking a picture so he could do further research on it, but when he pointed his camera at the butterfly it flew behind a tree. As soon as he lowered it, it was back in view, and the same process repeated a couple times, whenever his camera was ready, the butterfly wasn’t in view.

Dipper desperately wanted a picture of the butterfly. Not only was the first thing he had ever seen in the forest, but the lack of results on the internet sparked his curiosity immensely. His mind was already racing through possibilities of discovering a new species of butterflies, and the praise he would get for it. He could already picture the way this would kick start his career. Discovering a species, naming it after himself, and then becoming the world’s leading expert in the field, and over time he would discover more and more species and he would be renowned-- wait, he was getting ahead of himself. He knew logically that whatever species it was likely had already been discovered, but since he couldn’t find it from a quick google search, his desire to be recognized for his academic achievement kicked in. He was getting excited at this point, a grin forming on his face, and when he looked up, he realized the butterfly had floated a little further into the forest. 

“Shit,” he murmured, leaning as far into the forest as he could. He watched as the butterfly landed on a tall blade of grass and seemed to settle there. While he could still see it, his camera quality was not great, and he knew the picture would turn out grainy if he took it now. 

After a split second decision, he dashed off towards the Mystery Shack, the store that his Grunkle Stan owned, and bolted up the stairs to his and Mabel’s room. He quickly rushed over to his bed and grabbed his camera and notebook, and was about to head back to the edge of the forest when he noticed Mabel’s pile of yarn that she used to make sweaters. He hesitated for a minute, then grabbed one of the red yarn balls, tucking it under his armpit as he dashed back out to the forest. 

Once he had reached the edge, he stared out through the trees, looking for the butterfly. After a few seconds of frantic glancing around, he spotted a flutter of yellow wings several meters away. Dipper frowned, knowing that it was too far away to get a good picture. He sighed, setting down his camera, and glancing at the yarn.

He knew he shouldn’t go into the forest. No one ever makes it out of the forest. There are so many stories and myths, but they all stemmed from the same string of disappearances. 

“Maybe,” he mumbled to himself, rubbing his chin in thought, “Maybe everyone who went in there got lost. Maybe it’s everyone’s fear that caused them to not make a map or chart out the area, and they just lose their way back to the edge.”

The more he thought about it, the more that idea made sense to him. The tiny doubt he had was pushed down as he convinced himself that everyone was being overdramatic, letting stories prevent them from entering. 

He glanced up again, seeing the butterfly floating further into the forest, and he made up his mind.

Grabbing the yarn, he tied one end around a tree and held the rest in his hand, pulling the camera’s strap around his neck. Slowly, he stepped forward into the forest.

As soon as he was one step in the forest, all reservations left him. Just a moment ago, he’d been slightly apprehensive, but now that he was actually in it, he figured, hey, nothing bad has happened yet! 

He set off after the butterfly, following the yellow flicker of wings up ahead. He slowly let the yarn unravel as he chased the butterfly, making sure he would have a way back. After a few minutes, he had made it through half of the ball of yarn, and the butterfly was still ahead of him.

So far, the forest seemed completely normal. He was starting to think people were exaggerating how bad it was. Sure, it was huge, and he could easily get lost, but that’s why he brought the yarn.

Once he had unraveled almost all of the yarn, he reached a clearing. The butterfly was floating in the middle of it, drifting down to land on top of a moss covered rock. Dipper crept forward as silently as he could, not wanting to spook it, and raised his camera. Just as he was snapping the picture, something crashed into him, knocking him to the ground.

He grunted as he hit the ground, and found himself pinned under whatever had knocked him over. He shifted, looking up, and discovered that it was a person, which was a shock in and of itself since no one ever went into the forest. 

He started to relax, relieved that it wasn’t some wild animal that was attacking him, but tensed a few seconds later, remembering the stories about a potential serial killer living in the woods. He squirmed, trying to push himself out from under the person, eventually managing to shove them off. He scrambled backwards quickly, watching as the person got up and brushed themself off. 

“Sorry about that,” they said.

Dipper gave them a quick once over. They were tall, at least a few inches taller than Dipper, with long legs. Their hair was messy and blond, and they were dressed in a black shirt, jeans, and a yellow flannel. One of their eyes was a pleasant golden brown color, and the other one was the glassy faded color of someone who was blind. 

They smiled, and Dipper just stared more. “I’m Bill.”

Dipper stayed silent. Bill didn’t look like a serial killer, but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t one. 

Bill raised an eyebrow. “Not much of a conversationalist, huh Pinetree.”

Dipper blinked. “Pinetree?” he asked. “Why…?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bill said, waving his hand dismissively. 

Dipper shifted on the ground. “I… um,” he said intelligently, then glanced around the clearing for the butterfly. “Fuck!” he said and scrambled to his feet. “There was a butterfly here, have you seen it?”

Bill grinned. “Nope, haven’t seen one. I’ve just been wandering around for a bit now, I seem to be lost.”

“You’re lost?” Dipper asked. “Why are you in the forest in the first place?”

“Lost a bet,” Bill replied noncommittally.

“A bet? What kind of bet would make you come into this forest when no one ever makes it out of here?”

“Just a bet, and besides, it sounds like you followed a butterfly into the forest, so I don’t think you have room to judge.”

Dipper opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, realizing Bill was right. Taking a deep breath, he held up the last bit of yarn he was holding.  
“I tied the end of this yarn to a tree outside the forest. We can use it to get back,” he said.

Bill took a step forward. “That was a very smart thing to do, Pinetree. I’m impressed.”

Dipper’s heart fluttered a little at the praise. “Yeah, whatever dude,” he replied and turned quickly so Bill wouldn’t see the small blush forming on his face. He didn’t see the way Bill smirked, with a calculating look in his eye, or the yellow butterfly that fluttered around his shoulders before it melted into shadows.


	2. Oh Deer, Oh My

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Bill talk for a bit, and they see a deer

It only took a minute of Bill and Dipper walking in silence before Bill spoke up.

“So, Pinetree, tell me about yourself,” he said, throwing his arm around Dipper’s shoulders, which Dipper promptly shrugged off. 

“No,” he said curtly, hoping it would cut off the conversation. It didn’t.

“Aww, why not?” Bill asked, poking Dipper’s cheek. “We’re lost in the forest together. This is a bonding experience, so we should learn more about each other.”

“We won’t be lost in here for very much longer,” Dipper said, and missed Bill’s grin.

“Yes, because you were smart and left a path for us to get back.”

Dipper’s pride swelled whenever Bill called him smart, but he didn’t reply. Bill continued to have an amicable, almost entirely one sided conversation with Dipper, who couldn’t be bothered to reply with more than one word at a time, until they were nearing the end of the yarn. Dipper picked up the pace excitedly. As uneventful as the forest had been, he was already planning on what to tell people when they realized he was one of the first people to make it out. He jogged forward with a grin, pulling at the yarn and feeling significant resistance. Yes, he thought, _yes, yes we’re almost out! We’re almost… ___

__The yarn was tied to a tree. The problem was, that tree was not at the edge of the forest, as it had been before. This tree seemed to be deep in the forest. He couldn’t see outside of it._ _

__“No,” he murmured, looking down at the yarn in his hands. “No, this can’t be right. I tied the yarn outside the forest!”_ _

__“Not to point out the obvious, Pinetree, but this happens to be the middle of the forest, not the edge,” Bill said._ _

__Dipper glared at him. “Where would I be without your stunning observation skills,” he snapped, then turned back to the yarn and walked up to the tree. He circled it a couple times, muttering stuff under his breath. After a minute or two, he stopped and stared at it._ _

__“How did the yarn move?” he asked out loud. “No one else is in here, it’s just…” he paused, then slowly turned to Bill. “Did you move it?”_ _

__Bill laughed. “Why would I want to move your yarn? I’m stuck in here too, you know.”_ _

__“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”_ _

__Bill stalked forward until he stood toe to toe with Dipper, looking down at him. “It’s not the only thing that makes sense if you expand your beliefs. Haven’t you heard the stories about this forest?” he said, then stepped around him and leaned down so his mouth was by Dipper’s ear. “That it’s haunted,” he whispered. “That people lose their minds when they enter,” he let out a small chuckle, and Dipper shivered when Bill’s breath hit the back of his neck. “Maybe the trees moved so we would never find our way out.”_ _

__With that, Dipper jerked away from him. “It doesn’t matter, we just need to get back before night.”_ _

__Bill raised his eyebrows. “Well if you think you know which direction to go, lead the way,” he said, gesturing at the seemingly endless forest surrounding them._ _

__Dipper huffed, annoyed, then pointed in a random direction. “That way,” he said._ _

__Bill grinned and bowed, flourishing his hand dramatically. “As you wish.”_ _

__Dipper rolled his eyes and stomped off in the direction he pointed. Bill cheerfully followed after him, unbothered by their lack of direction._ _

__

__After a couple of hours of aimless wandering, Dipper’s resolve was starting to crumble. They had been walking in the same direction the entire time, but the forest looked exactly the same as it had hours ago. He wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been, but it was starting to get dark, which was worrying. He slumped against a tree, worn out from all their walking._ _

__“Let’s take a break,” he said to Bill as he slid down the tree to sit on the ground. Bill sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder. Dipper was too tired to push him off._ _

__“We could always stay here for the night,” Bill said._ _

__“No,” Dipper said quickly, but there wasn’t much force behind it. “We can’t. If we do, we’ll probably never make it out.”_ _

__“I’m starting to think the legends are true, and that it’s already too late for us,” said Bill._ _

__“Don’t say that!”_ _

__“Well it’s true! Have you ever heard of anyone making it out of here?”_ _

__Dipper sighed. “No,” he said quietly. “I know that no one ever has, but I still have to try.”_ _

__Bill flicked Dipper’s ear. “Fine,” he said. “We can rest here for a few minutes, then try again, but if it gets too dark then we’re going to have to find somewhere to sleep.”_ _

__“Great, sounds like a plan,” Dipper said, then yawned. He closed his eyes for a second, and there was silence, before there was a crack. Dipper’s eyes flew open, and in front of him and Bill stood a deer._ _

__The deer had seven eyes and two sets of antlers._ _

__Dipper sucked in a breath, not moving an inch. The deer was watching them, tilting its head slightly. Well, Dipper assumed that the deer was watching them. It was a little hard to tell when it had seven eyes, none of which had pupils, or at least not visible ones since its eyes were solid black._ _

__

__

__Dipper nudged Bill, who was watching the deer with a lazy, unconcerned half smile. Dipper stared at him for a moment, confused as to why he was so calm._ _

__“Holy shit,” he whispered. “I was beginning to think this forest was actually normal, except for the getting lost forever thing.”_ _

__Bill turned to look at him. “Of course there are animals in the forest. It wouldn’t be much of a forest without them,” Bill said at a normal volume, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world._ _

__“I know that there are animals in forests, Bill, but that flower has seven eyes! And four antlers! That’s not normal deer anatomy!”_ _

__Bill glanced at the deer. “Are you scared of it?”_ _

__“No,” Dipper said, his voice cracking slightly. He wasn’t sure if he was scared of the deer or if it was just strange to him._ _

__“Well then what’s the problem? Why does it matter if the deer has seven eyes?” Bill asked._ _

__Dipper stared at him, unable to comprehend why Bill was so nonchalant about a very clearly mutated deer._ _

__“None of this is phasing you at all?”_ _

__Bill shrugged. “Nope. I guess my tolerance for weird is higher than yours.” He stood, offering his hand to Dipper. “Should we keep looking for a way out?”_ _

__Dipper hesitated. He glanced at the deer again, who was watching their exchange calmly. “Sure,” he said slowly, taking Bill’s hand and letting himself be pulled up. The deer slowly walked away, and Dipper watched it go, trying to wrap his head around it. The two started walking in a random direction, and it was a few minutes before Dipper spoke up._ _

__“So, why weren’t you affected at all by that deer?”_ _

__Bill grinned. “I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m very used to weird.”_ _

__“I’ve never seen you around before. I’m only here for the summers though.”_ _

__“Visiting family?”_ _

__“Yeah, my Grunkle Stan lives here, he runs a shop called the Mystery Shack. It’s a tourist trap.”_ _

__“I bet you really want to get back to him.”_ _

__“Yeah, but mostly I want to get back to my sister. Her name is Mabel, she’s my best friend.”_ _

__They talked for a bit, mostly Dipper telling Bill about his family, while the sky was getting darker and darker._ _

__“Actually,” Dipper said at one point. “My great uncle was one of the people to come in here and never get out. That’s probably why Grunkle Stan was so against me coming in here. Him and Great Uncle Ford were really close, and he says he took it really hard when he got lost. That was 30 years ago, but Grunkle Stan still can’t let go what happened to Ford.”_ _

__“Ford, huh?” Bill said, and a weird look appeared on his face. He almost looked… delighted? He strode over to a large oak tree with six long branches intertwining from the truck of the tree up, nudging it with his foot. “I think that I heard about him. Smart, scientist, six fingers on his hands?”_ _

__“That’s him,” Dipper said. “I never met him, but I wish I did. From what Stan told me, he was really cool, like a literal genius. There would be so much I would want to talk with him about.”_ _

__“I’m sure you’re not missing out on much,” Bill said, before abruptly changing the subject. “It’s getting a little too dark. We should probably stop for the night.”_ _

__Dipper sighed, glancing around. Bill was right, he couldn’t see very far through the trees anymore. “Alright. I guess we have to. Let’s find a good place.”_ _

__After a few minutes, they found a small cave that was big enough for them both to fit in and settled in. They were lying down next to each other, trying to get comfortable, when Dipper mumbled, “G’night Bill,” sleepily before drifting off._ _

__Bill watched Dipper’s breath even out, a small smile playing on his lips. “Goodnight, Pinetree, sleep well,” he said softly. Fog started rolling into the cave, and it had a slight shimmery quality to it, making it look almost like glittered was sprinkled into it. It began to wrap around Dipper, cocooning him in like a blanket. “Don’t forget to wake up.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone wanna be friends on Pokemon GO?


	3. The River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill and Dipper become closer, and find a mysterious river.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

When Dipper woke up, his face was pressed to something soft. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to wake up, and realized not only that his head was resting on Bill’s chest, but there was also a puddle of his drool all over Bill’s shirt. 

He pulled his head away and looked up to find Bill watching him in amusement.

“Sorry,” he said, glancing at the drool.

“It’s okay,” Bill replied. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty well,” Dipper said, sitting up. “I had a weird dream, though. I was lying in the dirt and I was, like, becoming one with nature or something. Like I was literally a part of the forest.”

Bill raised an eyebrow. “How strange,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m not really sure what that was about.”

“Maybe you’re turning into a tree,” Bill offered.

“Ha, yeah right,” Dipper said. Right then, his stomach growled. “Oh man, I just realized I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.”

“We should probably look for food, then,” Bill said. 

Dipper frowned. “Do think that we’d be able to catch an animal?”

“Probably not, but there are berries in forests, we could find those to eat.”

They stood and brushed themselves off before setting out to find food. Dipper wasn’t sure he would be able to tell what was edible, so he didn’t think he would be much help, but Bill seemed confident in his ability to pick out non-poisonous plants. The problem was, they hadn’t really seen anything that looked like it could be food. So far, the only things that Dipper had seen were trees, rocks, and grass, none of those being edible. 

“This is useless,” Dipper grumbled after ten minutes and no food. “We haven’t seen anything resembling food, and so far the forest has looked exactly the same throughout the entire thing, so we probably won’t find anything new.”

“Aw, cheer up, Pinetree,” Bill said, and he threw his arm around Dipper’s shoulders. This time, Dipper didn’t shrug him off. “I’m sure there’s something, we just need to keep looking.”

“Where?” Dipper said, waving his hand at the forest. 

“I don’t know,” Bill said, glancing around the forest. “How about behind that big rock.” He pointed at a massive rock that was easily three or four meters tall. 

“Yeah, I doubt that there will miraculously be something we can eat behind this rock, when there hasn’t been anything anywhere else,” Dipper said, walking around the rock. “That would be…” he stopped, mouth falling open. “What the fuck?”

Behind the rock were several bushes of berries and flowers. There seemed to be a few types of berries, one being raspberries, the others he couldn’t identify. Dipper turned to Bill. “How did you know there would be berries here?”

Bill shrugged. “I didn’t, it was just a guess,” he said. “I’m just as surprised as you that it was true.”

He didn’t sound particularly surprised, but Dipper didn’t ponder that as he rushed over to the bushes. “Oh this is great!” he said happily, sitting on the ground. “Maybe I won’t die in the forest.”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Pinetree,” Bill said, plucking a berry off a bush. “I won’t let you die in here.”

Dipper barely heard him since he was stuffing his mouth with as many berries as he could at once. Bill sat down next to him, occasionally tossing a berry into his mouth.

After a couple minutes, Dipper had eaten enough berries that he wasn’t hungry anymore. Raspberry was smudged all around his lips.

Bill smiled at him. “You know, you’re kind of a messy eater,” he said, leaning forward. “Let me get that for you.”

Before Dipper could reply, Bill was kissing him. Dipper froze, completely shocked for a second. Bill licked the raspberry off of Dipper’s bottom lip. Dipper finally unfroze and softly kissed Bill back. His heart was beating faster, and he could feel himself starting to blush as Bill brought his hand up to Dipper’s hair, running his fingers through it. Dipper brought his arms up and wrapped them around Bill’s neck, sighing slightly. 

After a couple minutes, Bill gently pulled away. “I think I got all the raspberry,” he murmured. 

“Yeah,” Dipper replied. “I think you did. But do you wanna check again anyway?”

“Yes, just in case.”

The continued kissing, and after a bit, Dipper felt himself calming down a little. Sure, he was still worried that they were stuck in the forest, but it wasn’t so bad. 

When both of them were somewhat out of breath, they pulled away from each other. Dipper stared at Bill, waiting for him to say something. Bill just stared back, a grinning slightly.

When it had been a few minutes and neither of them had spoken, Dipper broke the silence.

“So,” he started, his voice cracking slightly. “I, um, that was…”

“Fun?” Bill supplied. Dipper nodded. “Good?” Bill continued. “The best thing you’ve ever experienced in your life, and now everything else will pale in comparison?”

Dipper rolled his eyes, feeling significantly less flustered. “That may be going a bit too far.”

Bill put his hand on his heart dramatically. “I’m wounded, Pinetree. You hurt me so much.”

Dipper snorted. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he said, then got to his feet. “We should pack up some of these berries and keep walking.”

Bill sighed. “If we must.”

They set off, and while Dipper wasn’t hungry anymore, his hope was starting to dwindle. It seemed like their quest to find their way out of the forest was going just about as well as it had been the day before, which is to say, unsuccessful. 

Dipper was telling Bill about Mabel, and all the fun they had together, when he noticed that there were less trees than there were for the rest of the forest up ahead.

“This way!” he shouted, grabbing Bill’s hand and dragging him forward. “This looks like it could be the way out!”

They stumbled into the clearing, slightly out of breath, and Dipper’s shoulders dropped. It wasn’t the edge of the forest, but a river. It was a very twisty river, and had several bends and turns that Dipper could see.

“Oh,” Dipper said dejectedly, frowning at it. “That’s disappointing.”

He trudged forward to the river’s edge, bending down to scoop some out and drink when Bill grabbed his arm roughly and hauled him away. 

“I wouldn’t do that,” he said firmly. 

“What? Why not? We need water,” Dipper said, and he tried to step forward, but Bill wrapped his arms around Dipper, holding him back. 

“Listen, I know we need water, but don’t you notice anything weird about the river?” Bill asked.

“What are you talking about? It seems normal. It’s just…” he trailed off, staring at the river. Now that he was watching it, the water seemed unnaturally still. There were no ripples or fish. The river, and everything surrounding it, was completely void of sound. It was unsettling. 

Dipper pulled himself out of Bill’s arms slowly, walking towards the edge. Once he was close to it, he crouched down and looked at the surface, and reeled back quickly, gasping.

In the river’s reflection, Dipper could see several people, all standing next to or around him. When he jerked his head around, there was no one there except him and Bill, but when he looked back at the water, the people were still there. He fell backwards onto his butt, breathing quickly. After a minute of panic, he managed to calm himself down enough to lean back over the edge a bit. 

The people in the river’s reflection were still there, watching him silently. He noticed that a lot of them were wearing different types of clothes, from 18th century dresses and suits, to leather jackets and ripped jeans, and even something that looked like what the ancient Greeks wore. It looked like there were people from several centuries, staring up at him.

“This is so weird,” Dipper said in a hushed tone, studying their faces. Despite all their different types of clothes, they all had the same worn out, gaunt look on their face, with sunken in cheeks and a hollow look in their eyes, almost like they were drained of blood or dead or something.

“I don’t think we should touch this river,” Dipper said after a few minutes. “You were right, it’s unnatural somehow.”

“Obviously,” Bill said, walking over to Dipper. “I’m always right.”

As soon as Bill was next to Dipper, the reflection people changed. Their faces all went from empty indifference to fear. One of them, a man in a waistcoat and top hat, looked at Bill then turned his fearful gaze directly at Dipper and mouthed something. Dipper couldn’t hear it.

“Did he just say ‘Beware’?” Dipper said, watching the man closely.

Bill shrugged. “I think he said ‘Bewarb’,” he replied, before grabbing Dipper’s arm and pulling him away from the river so he couldn’t see the people in it anymore. “I think we should head in that direction.” He pointed to the left, away from the river. 

“Sure,” Dipper said hesitantly, glancing back at the river, but letting Bill drag him deeper into the forest. 

When Bill had dragged him far enough that he couldn’t see the river, he stopped. 

“I wonder what was up with that river,” Dipper said, voicing his thoughts. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something foreboding about it.

“Who knows,” Bill said, putting his hands on Dipper’s shoulders. “This forest is strange, I’m sure that was just one of its tricks.”

“Yeah,” Dipper said slowly. “I just feel uneasy about it. Like, I know this whole forest is supposed to be cursed or something, but I’m just, I don’t know, nervous I guess.”

“Hey, Pinetree, it’ll be alright,” Bill said, watching Dipper. “At least we have each other.”

Dipper still looked distressed as he said, “Yeah, I guess that’s true,” he said quietly.

Bill sighed. “How about this. Let’s make a deal.”

Dipper glanced up. “A deal?”

“Yeah. We’ll make a deal that as long as we’re in the forest, we’ll take care of and look out for each other.”

Dipper looked into Bill’s eyes, and after a few seconds, relaxed slightly. “Okay,” he said.

Bill stuck out his hand. “Let’s shake on it. Y’know, make it official and all that.”

Dipper looked down at Bill’s hand for a second, before slowly reaching out and taking it.

“Alright,” he said. 

“Well, then,” Bill said. HIs hand tightened around Dipper’s. For the briefest second, Bill looked almost sinister, a weird glint appearing in his eye, before it was gone and Dipper supposed he’d imagined it. Bill shook his hand.

“It’s a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I've don't write anything romancey much, so that kiss was brief because I honestly wasn't sure what to write for kissing.


	4. The Crystal Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill and Dipper play two truths and a lie. Plus there's weird trees and a cave.

The two continued walking through the forest, Dipper occasionally popping a berry into his mouth. He was feeling significantly better after eating, less like he was in a hopeless situation. He was even getting used to the forest. It wasn’t as bad as he’d assumed it would be, especially since he was with Bill.

“We should play a game,” Dipper said suddenly, breaking the brief silence between the two. 

“What sort of game,” Bill replied.

“I dunno, like a ‘getting to know you’ sort of game. It’s just, we don’t really know each other all that well, and we’re stuck here together, and… we’ve… we’ve done…” Dipper trailed off and cleared his throat, blushing.

“We’ve kissed?” Bill stated bluntly, grinning at Dipper’s embarrassment.

“Yes, that,” Dipper said, his voice raising an octave higher than normal. 

“You’re right,” Bill said, ignoring Dipper’s flustered state. “We haven’t had as much time to talk about ourselves. Especially since we spent some of that time making out,” he continued, grinning as Dipper tripped over his own feet, then turned to glare at him. 

Dipper turned, willing his blush to fade, and when it finally did he turned back to Bill. “There are plenty of games we could play to learn more about each other. How about two truths and a lie?” he asked.

“Sure, Pinetree,” Bill replied. “Should I go first?”

Dipper nodded and Bill tilted his head slightly in thought.

After a few seconds he clapped his hands together once. “Okay, I’ve got them. One: I’ve lived here my whole life. Two: I’m a demon. Three: I hate wearing hats.”

Dipper snorted and rolled his eyes. “Gee, I wonder which one’s the lie,” he said sarcastically, grinning at Bill. 

Bill smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Well? Which is it?”

“Obviously you were lying about being a demon,” Dipper said. “Come on, at least take this game seriously.”

Bill only grinned wider. “You’re turn,” he said. 

“Okay, one: I’m very into the paranormal. Two: my first kiss was technically giving someone CPR. Three: my dream job is doctor.”

Bill pondered for a minute. “I think the lie is the doctor thing,” he said.

“You’re right, Dipper said.

“Well now I need to know about the whole CPR kiss,” Bill said.

Dipper laughed. “It was very embarrassing at the time. Mabel had a crush on this guy, and when we were all at the pool, he started drowning, so I pulled him out and did CPR on him, but I was, like, super panicked the whole time and he woke up when my mouth was on his. Now Mabel jokes that he was both of our first kisses.”

Bill laughed. “Oh, that’s hilarious! You and your sister’s first kiss was the same guy,” he said, wheezing slightly. “I mean, I wouldn’t necessarily say that CPR counts as a kiss, but it’s still a funny idea.”

“Yeah, she brings it up every holiday. The first time my Grunkle Stan heard it, he accidentally snorted some Pitt Cola up his nose from laughing so hard,” Dipper said, smiling fondly at the memory. “But anyway, it’s your turn again.”

“Alright, one: my favorite shape is a triangle. Two: human suffering is my favorite pastime. Three: I am not a natural blond.”

Dipper groaned. “I told you to take this seriously. How am I supposed to learn anything about you if--”

He gasped, cutting off his sentence in the middle. He hadn’t really been paying attention to their surroundings or where they were going. They were trees surrounding them, like always, and light was filtering through several strange looking trees in particular. Dipper was standing in the light under one of those trees, and when he had looked down at his hand, he could see his own skeleton through his skin. 

He stumbled back, running straight into Bill, who caught him and put his arms around Dipper’s shoulders. 

“What just…” Dipper said softly. “I could see my skeleton. I can’t now, though. I think it’s only in the light.”

“Hmm, that’s weird,” Bill said, glancing at the trees. “We’ve walked into the light before, nothing like that has happened so far.”

“I think it’s these trees specifically, for some reason. It was really weird, though,” he said, then shivered slightly. He cautiously stepped forward and slowly reached his hand out until it was in the light. His skeleton was clearly visible, his skin was a weird, translucent gray-ish color. He wiggled his fingers, watching as the bones shifted.

“Ha, Bill, come stand under the light,” Dipper said, getting used to the strangeness.

Bill watched him with amusement. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t need to see my own skeleton, thank you.”

“Spooky, scary, skeletons,” Dipper sang quietly under his breath as he hopped in and out of the light. 

Bill watched Dipper for a couple minutes before he got bored. “Okay, I think it’s time we move on,” he said. He reached over and grabbed Dipper by the elbow, dragging him out of the light and past the trees. Dipper was so preoccupied by the light that he didn’t notice that when Bill’s hand was under it, it didn’t show his skeleton.

“At some point,” Dipper was saying excitedly, waving his hands around. “I want to go back and collect some of the leaves. I want to know if it was the leaves or the tree itself, and if it would work on any light, and what the range is, and if the light will make me see an animal’s skeleton too, or if it only works on humans.”

“Go back?” Bill said, smiling slightly. “I thought you wanted to get out of the forest.”

Dipper blinked, a small look of confusion forming on his face. “I do. Of course I do. I was just… caught up in the moment, I guess,” he said slowly, his eyebrows scrunching together. 

Bill didn’t comment on it, instead raising an eyebrow and holding out one of the green berries in his hand for Dipper, which he took absently, popping it in his mouth without his expression changing.

“So, tell me about your friends, Pinetree,” Bill said, watching Dipper’s face.

Dipper tilted his head slightly. “My… friends?” he said as if it were a question.

“Yes, your friends. You were telling me about them? Y’know, the one with the red hair, or the guy who works at your great uncle’s shop?”

“Right,” he said quietly. “I… this is going to sound weird, but it’s like I can picture them, but they’re blurry.” He scratched his head. “I know that I’ve known them for years, but I can’t remember their names.”

“How strange,” Bill said. “Here, have another berry, maybe that will help you remember.”

He held it out, and Dipper took it and ate it without hesitation. Once he had finished eating it, he turned to Bill, a dazed sort of look in his eyes. “Sorry, what were we talking about? I can’t seem to remember.”

Bill smiled. “Nothing important,” he said, watching as Dipper nodded his head. 

“Nothing important,” Dipper muttered, echoing Bill’s words.

“We should try and find water,” Bill said. “Since we didn’t get any from that river.”

Dipper shook the dazed look from his face. “Yes, we should. I don’t want to die of dehydration.”

“I don’t want that either, Pinetree,” Bill said, grinning at him.

“Well, which direction should we take,” Dipper said, looking around at the trees.

Bill pointed. “That way,” he said without taking his eye off Dipper.

Dipper shrugged. “Sure,” he said, and they headed in the direction Bill had pointed in. 

Dipper was surprised that after only a few minutes, they had stumbled upon a cave, which he could hear running water echoing out of. 

“What are the odds that we’d find some so quick!” he said, bouncing on the heels of his feet, before walking towards the entrance of the cave.

“Better than you think,” Bill said quietly enough that Dipper couldn’t hear him, then followed.

“It’s kinda dark in there,” Dipper said, staring into the cave. “Do you think it’s safe to go in?”

“Well, I don’t see why not,” Bill said. He stepped forward but was stopped by Dipper grabbing his arm.

“I’m serious,” he said, his nose scrunching up slightly. “It’s too dark to see, and no one’s been here for, well, forever I bet, and it could collapse on us.”

“Eh, you worry too much, Bill said, before smirking. “Besides,” he continued nonchalantly. “There’s only one way to find out.”

He grabbed Dipper by the shoulders and dragged him in before Dipper could react. Dipper gasped as he was pulled into the darkness, struggling against Bill

“Bill!” he yelled. “This isn’t a good idea!”

“Sure it was, Pinetree,” Bill said, sounding entirely too amused. “Look.”

Dipper jerked his head around to see what Bill was talking about. There was a light in the cave, or actually, several lights. The cave walls and ceiling were covered completely in multicolored crystals, all of which had started to glow when the two boys stepped into the cave. They shone brightly enough for the cave to be lit completely. They were slow at first, but gradually, all of them were bright and colorful.

“This is beautiful,” Dipper said breathlessly. He blinked, glancing at Bill. “How did you know it would do that?”

“I didn’t. This was just a lucky mistake,” he said.

Dipper looked back at the crystals. “Wow,” he said, staring at them in awe. “We should collect some of them for science.”

“Actually, I think we should get water first,” Bill said, pointing down the cave to where the sound of running water was coming from. “You know, like the reason we’re in this cave?”

“Oh, right,” Dipper said sheepishly. “Water. But then maybe we could come back to take some crystals?”

He made a pouty face at Bill, pushing his lower lip out. Bill grinned. “Maybe.”

Dipper grinned back. “Great! Now let’s go get water so we don’t dehydrate,” he said, eyes darting around at all the crystals again. He seemed unable to stop himself. “This cave is so cool, I want to spend so much time studying it!”

He darted off down the cave, leaving Bill to walk slowly after him. “Don’t worry, Pinetree,” Bill said to himself as he watched Dipper run off. “You’ll have plenty of time to study the cave. All the time in the world, in fact.”

He smiled to himself as he followed after Dipper, running his fingers along the crystals, making them all glow a bright, almost blinding, yellow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter won't be posted for about two and a half weeks because I need to study for my finals and then actually take the finals, so wish me luck! (And good luck to anyone who also has to do finals, or has anything remotely stressful coming up)


	5. Cetus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spelunking! Caves are so fun!

Dipper made his way through the cave, stopping every so often to point at something excitedly. Not only did the entrance to the cave have glowing crystals, further in the walls were lined with massive bones that looked like they belonged to dinosaurs, a sticky, amber colored substance would occasionally drip from the ceiling, and Dipper could swear he heard faint music playing. 

Bill had caught up with him and they made their way down the cave’s corridor, making sure not to go too fast in case there was something that could cause them problems. Eventually, they reached the water that they’d heard. 

The cave’s narrow passageway opened to a massive cavern with an underground lake. There were more glowing crystals along the walls of the cavern, and they made the water of the lake shimmer with a variety of colors. The water was so clear that Dipper could see the lake’s floor as if it were shallow, but he suspected that it wasn’t nearly as shallow as it appeared. 

Dipper glanced at Bill, then slowly walked towards the edge of the lake when Bill gave no indication that this might be a bad idea. Once he reached it, he peered down at the water. There were no fish that he could see, or anything else living, but he did notice an opening to what looked to be a tunnel. He wondered if there was an entire tunnel system that was part of the lake, and if there was anything lurking inside them.

He shook that thought away, turning to Bill. “Do you think it’s safe to drink this water?”

Bill crouched down next to him and stuck his hand directly into the water, causing Dipper to gasp slightly. He waited with baited breath for a few seconds. When nothing happened, Bill took his hand out and flicked some water at Dipper. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

“That was reckless,” Dipper said, watching Bill to make sure there weren’t any late effects of the water. “You shouldn’t just stick your hand into the water when we don’t know what could’ve happened. It could have burned your hand off or turned it invisible or something. This forest is super weird.”

“But it was worth it,” Bill said. “Now we have probably safe water to drink.”

Dipper sighed. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Plus, at this point we really need water, and I don’t think we should risk losing this to look for a different lake or river, especially with no guarantees that it would be safe either.”

Bill nodded and Dipper glanced at the water quizzically. There didn’t appear to be anything wrong with it. 

“Alright,” Dipper said. “Here goes.”

He dipped his hands into the water, cupping them to collect as much as he could. He brought his hands to his mouth and sipped tentatively. Bill watched him in rapt attention. 

Dipper’s eyes lit up. “Oh wow!” 

He plunged his hands back in, taking up more water and gulping it down. 

“It’s so good,” he said between gulps. “It doesn’t taste like water, though. So far each sip has tasted like something different.”

Bill tilted his head. “Like what?”

“The first one tasted like oranges, the second was peppermint, and another was chocolatey. They’re all my favorite flavors.”

“Well maybe I should try some, then,” Bill said, grinning as he scooped up some water and drank it. 

“What does it taste like?” Dipper asked as Bill drank. 

“The souls of my enemies,” Bill replied in a completely serious tone before drinking more. “Ooo, and this one tastes like agony!”

Dipper rolled his eyes. “You know, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Bill smiled at him. “Lemon,” he said. 

Dipper grinned, and drops of water trailed down his face. “That’s great! This is so good. I’m so happy we found it!”

“Me too,” Bill said. 

They continued drinking the water in silence for a few minutes. Dipper was feeling particularly calm, probably more calm than he’d felt since he stepped into the forest. He leaned on the wall of the cave as he lazily continued to drink water and watched the soft glow of the crystals in the reflection of the lake. Bill was leaning against the opposite wall with his eyes closed, apparently done drinking. 

Dipper was just closing his eyes contentedly when there was a massive ripple in the middle of the lake, breaking his calm. He looked over, but he didn’t see anything. He stared for a couple seconds, then shook his head and settled back against the wall again, assuming he had imagined something that wasn’t there. 

He was just nodding off when there was a loud splash. He jerked forward, but when he looked in the lake, there was nothing, just like the time before. 

“Bill,” he whispered, nudging Bill, who was dozing, with his foot. “I think there’s something in the lake.”

Bill opened his eyes slowly and glanced at the clear water. “I don’t see anything,” he said.

“I heard a splash,” Dipper said, and he shifted a little closer to the edge. 

“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?” Bill asked, closing his eyes again. 

“I…” Dipper started, then paused. He wasn’t completely sure that he wasn’t just imagining things. He definitely couldn’t see anything in the lake after all, but he was so sure that he’d heard something. “...no.”

Dipper watched the water uneasily, waiting for something to happen. He wasn’t sure anything would, but he wasn’t sure how comfortable he would be if he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that there wasn’t anything in the water that could harm him or Bill.

Nothing happened for several, uneventful, minutes. Dipper just about gave up when he heard another splash. He leaned forward quickly and watched as the water rippled outward from a point near the far wall of the cave. He squinted at the water, and there was still nothing like before, but then another splash sounded a little closer to where he and Bill were sitting. He was about to wake Bill up again when something splashed right in front of him, covering him in water. He lurched backwards, shaking water out of his hair. Bill, who had been covered in water as well, woke up. He glared at the water.

Dipper was about to open his mouth to say something along the lines of ‘I told you so’ when something poked him in the face. It wasn’t Bill, he wasn’t close enough for that. He rubbed at his cheek, then shrieked when a second later, he heard a low growling sound, right next to his head. He felt a puff of air hit his face and he shrank back. The growling didn’t stop, but nothing else touched him.

“W-what,” he said, his voice cracking, “What is happening?”

Bill made a sort of grunting noise and stood, slowly walking towards the growling sound and reaching his hand out.

“Don’t!” Dipper whispered quickly, but it was too late to stop him. Bill’s hand connected with something invisible, and the growl shifted to a rumbling purr. Bill began to pet the invisible thing, and Dipper only watched warily.

As Bill continued to pet it, Dipper felt something that felt like a tail nudge his leg. He flinched slightly before forcing himself to relax. Slowly, he reached out a shaking hand until he felt something solid. It was cold and scaly, with the water making it feel very smooth and slippery. He kept petting, and willed his heart rate to slow and his breathing to even. 

“What is this?” he asked after a bit. 

Bill, who hadn’t looked bothered at any point during this, tilted his head to the side. “It feels like some sort of sea serpent, only it’s invisible,” he said, then looked over at the water. “If I had to guess, I’d say that there could be more invisible creatures in the lake, too, and that’s where the splashing came from.”

Dipper nodded slowly, wishing he could see the sea serpent. It hadn’t tried to hurt them yet, but he figured it could if it wanted to, and not being able to see it would be an issue if that happened. 

Bill appeared to be having a great time with the invisible sea serpent. He kept petting it and grinning and talking to it, saying how smooth the scales were or how sharp its teeth were. Dipper was surprised at how quickly Bill warmed up to the serpent, but didn’t dwell on it too much. He’d been pretty quick to make friends with Dipper, too. He was probably just overly friendly. 

“I’m going to name you Cetus,” Bill said, and the sea serpent, now named Cetus, chirped at the name in what Dipper assumed was approval before continuing to purr.

“Why Cetus?” Dipper asked.

“Ancient myth,” Bill said. “Perseus, Andromeda, Medusa’s head, and a big sea creature called Cetus.”

Dipper hummed in thought. “I guess it’s fitting, then. What was Cetus like in the myth?”

“Basically, Andromeda’s mom said that she was prettier than some of the sea nymphs, so Poseidon wanted to punish her, so he had the town chain Andromeda to a rock and Cetus was supposed to kill her, but Perseus went and chopped off Medusa’s head and turned Cetus to stone,” Bill said. “Personally, I kinda feel bad for Cetus. Like, he was just following Poseidon’s orders and then he was made into a statue. And really, it was Andromeda’s mom’s fault for saying that in the first place.”

“Or the gods’ fault for having such fragile egos,” Dipper said. 

“Whoever’s fault it was, I wouldn’t like to be turned to stone, so Cetus is my favorite in that story,” Bill said defensively.

Dipper held up his hands in defeat. “Ok, ok, I agree, being turned to stone doesn’t sound fun. Cetus is a good name. Never insult the Greek gods,” Dipper listed the information off, and Bill nodded, satisfied that Dipper had learned what he was trying to explain. 

“I think that we should sleep here,” Bill said. “The cave seems pretty safe, there’s water, and Cetus can protect us.”

“Is it already night?” Dipper asked incredulously, but even as he said that, he yawned. He could feel his exhaustion creeping in. It had been a very long day, he’d made a lot of new discoveries, sleeping was probably a good idea.

“Okay,” he said, sliding down the cave’s wall and letting his eyes close. He felt Cetus’s tail wrap around him and pull him closer until both him and Bill were squished in a comfortable cocoon of sea serpent. “Night, Bill.”

Bill watched Dipper fall asleep, letting himself nod off as well. “Goodnight, Pinetree. Night, Cetus.”

The sea serpent huffed in response and covered them almost completely before drifting off to sleep itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is later than I meant it to be, sorry about that. I kept pushing it off for absolutely no reason. Happy New Year!


	6. Mr. McSquirrelson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding food is important

Dipper woke the next morning feeling particularly refreshed, definitely more refreshed than he had at any point so far in the forest. He let out a breath, enjoying how calm he felt, and shifted onto his side to watch Bill, who was still sleeping peacefully. His face looked softer when he was asleep, and Dipper reached out very slowly and brushed a bit of his hair out of his face. He wanted to let Bill sleep as much as possible. So far, Bill hadn’t shown any outward signs of distress at being stuck in a magical forest, but Dipper assumed that he was just hiding it really well. He even wondered if Bill was hiding it for his sake, so that he didn’t freak out even more. Though, Dipper didn’t really feel freaked out any more. If anything, he was comfortable in the forest now. It was strange, he hadn’t thought much about leaving the forest recently, being too caught up with Bill and discovering all the fascinating things they’ve discovered.

Dipper brushed aside those thoughts as Bill began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and yawned, looking up at Dipper and smiling gently.

“Morning, Pinetree,” Bill said.

“Hey,” Dipper replied.

Bill stretched his arms out as he sat up. “What has you up so early?”

“How do you know it’s early?” Dipper asked. “We’re in a cave. No sunlight and all.”

“Just a feeling,” Bill said.

“I’m up because I’m hungry again. We ran out of berries, so we should probably look for more food.”

“Oh right, food,” Bill said, laughing a little. “I forgot that was a necessary thing.”

Dipper laughed and rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go so I don’t die of starvation.”

He grabbed Bill by the arm and hauled him up. Cetus, who hadn’t moved much since Dipper had woken up, shifted, moving his face close to Dippers.

Dipper reached out his hand and let Cetus nuzzle it. “Don’t worry, we need to get food, but we’ll come back to visit you, Cetus!”

Cetus let out a sort of purring sound, and Dipper assumed that meant he was happy.

Dipper and Bill walked slowly out of the cave. Despite having seen it already, Dipper kept stopping to look at things again. They were just so interesting, he couldn’t help himself. It took 20 minutes before they reached the cave’s opening, when it really should have taken 5 minutes maximum.

“Alright, where do you think we can find more food?” Dipper asked Bill. “I would say we should try to find that bush again, but I doubt we’d be able to find it.”

“I think wandering is our best option,” Bill said. “It’s worked so far.”

“Yeah, like 30% of the time,” Dipper said. “The other 70% is when we just find more weird things that aren’t edible.”

“Hey, a 30% success rate is pretty good for a forest that no one has come out of before,” Bill replied, grinning and poking Dipper’s nose.

Dipper sighed. “I guess you’re right. Lead the way.”

Bill walked in what Dipper assumed was a random direction, and Dipper followed after him calmly. Since his dread about the forest had faded into nothing, then changed to excitement and interest, he wasn’t concerned about being afraid anymore. Now he had time to really appreciate the forest. He loved the tall trees and the sunlight that filtered through them, and the flowers and rivers and caves and everything else he’d seen so far. He couldn’t believe he didn’t see how beautiful it was before now.

“Are you listening, Pinetree?” Bill asked, bringing Dipper out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” Dipper said. 

“I said, what would you be doing if we weren’t stuck in this forest right now?” Bill asked.

“Hmm,” Dipper said, rubbing his chin while thinking. “I guess… I would be doing something with my sister. We do almost everything together.”

“Your sister, huh?” Bill said, watching him with a thoughtful expression. “Would you be hanging out with anyone else from your family as well?”  
Bill watched as Dipper’s eyes glazed over slightly, his mouth opening slightly. He took a minute, then said, “I don’t have any other family.”

Bill hid a small grin. “None at all?”

Dipper looked confused for a second, before shaking his head. “Nope.”

Bill nodded. “Hey, look over there,” he said. Dipper’s eyes lost the confused, misty look in an instant as the conversation was abruptly redirected. He looked where Bill was pointing.

Up ahead, standing between two trees, was a fox. For the most part, it looked like a normal fox, small and orangish, with a bushy tail. Except that its head was a fox’s skull, not fur or muscles. Dipper would think it was staring right at him if it weren’t for the empty eye sockets, but when he shifted to the side, the head shifted to follow his movement, so even without eyes, the fox could likely sense his presence. 

Dipper’s eyes lit up. “That’s so cool! Do you think if I stay still and hold out my hand, it will let me pet it?”

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

Bill watched as Dipper crouched down slowly, and after a bit, the fox trotted forward and nuzzled his hand. Dipper grinned widely, petting the fox’s skull carefully. 

The fox sneezed, and during the sneeze, it shifted from a fox to a squirrel. The squirrel that was previously a fox had the skull of a squirrel but the body was normal. Dipper yelped as the change happened, watching in fascination as the now squirrel nudged his hand with it’s head, and he continued to pet it.

“That’s weird,” he whispered. “It transformed! I wonder if it will change into any other animals. Do they all have skulls for heads? Are they all mammals?” 

He began mumbling a bunch of questions under his breath, watching the squirrel closely. Bill ruffled his hair affectionately.

“We have plenty of time to answer those questions,” Bill said casually. Dipper nodded eagerly, and Bill grinned at him softly. “We really should try to go find food, though.”

“Just a minute,” Dipper said, and he transferred the squirrel to his shoulder. “I want to take it with us.”

Bill raised his eyebrows. “Sure, Pinetree. Whatever you want.”

As they continued walking, the squirrel, which Dipper had named Mr. McSquirrelson, was walking all over him, running up and down his arms and legs and finally resting on his head to take a nap. 

“Is his name still going to be Mr. McSquirrelson if he changes back to a fox, or some other animal?” Bill asked.

“Yes, I wouldn’t want to confuse him by constantly changing his name,” Dipper said seriously. Bill smiled at the concern Dipper had for the squirrel.

Dipper wasn’t paying much attention to where they were going, too preoccupied with Mr. McSquirrelson to care. Bill led him through the forest, and during their walk, Mr. McSquirrelson sneezed again, this time changing to a bunny. 

Dipper was delighted by the change and picked up the bunny carefully. “I wish I had something to write down everything we’ve found here,” he said. He was talking to Bill, but he was staring deeply into Mr. McSquirrelson’s bunny eye sockets as he said it.

Bill waved his hand. “You don’t need paper. We’ll just remember the information as we go.”

Mr. McSquirrelson chose that moment to jump out of Dipper’s grip and scamper away. 

“No!” Dipper shouted, chasing after him. “Come back!”

Bill took off after Dipper, and they chased Mr. McSquirrelson through the trees for around 10 minutes before Mr. McSquirrelson dove into a patch of flowers. The flowers were small and purple and white. Mr. Mcsquirrelson poked his head out of the flowers and nudged one towards Dipper with the place where his nose would’ve been.

Dipper leaned down and plucked the flower off the ground, looking at it closely. He glanced at Bill, who walked over and grabbed it out of his hand. 

“Good news, Pinetree,” Bill said, smiling. “I’m pretty sure this is one of those edible flowers.”

“Really?” Dipper said, sniffing it lightly. Not that he would be able to determine if it was poisonous from smell, but he felt better doing it.

“Yeah, I’ll even prove it,” Bill replied, grabbing it again and shoving it into his mouth. 

“Bill!” Dipper shouted in surprise. “Spit it out! You said you were pretty sure it’s not poisonous, not definitely sure!”

Bill continued chewing, ducking out of Dipper’s reach when he tried to grab Bill’s face and force the flower out of his mouth.   
“It’s fine, look, I’m still alive,” he said around the flower, and before Dipper could protest, swallowed it. 

Dipper froze, watching him apprehensively. After a few minutes of Bill still being alive, he began to relax.

“That was really reckless,” Dipper said, shoving Bill lightly. “What if you had died? Don’t stress me out like that.”

“Aww, Pinetree, would you miss me?” Bill said, reaching up to poke Dipper in the face teasingly. Dipper slapped his hand away.

“Yes! I would have, you asshole,” Dipper shouted. Bill stepped back a little, watching as Dipper let out his anger. “I care about you.”

Bill froze for a second, no expression on his face, then he gave Dipper a small, sincere grin. “I care about you too.”

Dipper huffed out an exasperated breath, but he seemed to have calmed down. He sat down on the ground and grabbed a handful of flowers, shoving them all in his mouth at once, pouting.

Bill sat next to him. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Dipper leaned his head on Bill’s shoulder lightly. “It’s okay,” he said after a long silence. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

Bill put his arm around Dipper’s shoulders. “Relax, I’m not going anywhere.”

Dipper smiled. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Only if you promise me the same,” Bill said, watching Dipper.

Dipper nodded. “Yeah, I promise I’m not going anywhere either.”

“Good,” Bill said. “Here, have more flowers.”

He picked up a handful of flowers and pushed them towards Dipper, who ate them without complaint. Mr. McSquirrelson climbed up onto Dipper’s shoulder and went to sleep quickly. Dipper smiled at him happily.

“I love this forest so much,” he said.

Bill’s grin grew wider. “I’m happy you feel that way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for why this is later that it should be


	7. Pine Tree

Bill shook Dipper awake from where he had dozed off on Bill’s shoulder. He blinked blearily up at Bill.

“Wha,” he said intelligently. “How long was I sleeping?”

“Only about half an hour,” Bill replied. “I would have let you sleep longer, but I figured you’d want to see that.”

He pointed forward, and Dipper looked in the direction that he was pointing. There was a small blue thing floating in between two trees just ahead of them. It looked kind of like a small ball of fire. Dipper blinked, watching it.

“What is it?” he asked, moving to stand.

“I dunno,” Bill said. “Let’s go see.”

Dipper hesitated for a moment before stepping forward. The little blue fire drifted a little bit further away. As Dipper and Bill went towards it, it travelled away from them, deeper into the forest.

“Either it’s trying to get away from us, or it wants us to follow it.” Dipper took another tentative step forward.

“Probably wants us to follow it,” Bill replied. “Why else would it have waited for us to wake up and stayed in view for so long?”

“Good point.”

The little fireball matched them step for step as they followed it, inching them further through the forest. Dipper was very interested in the fireball. He wasn’t sure whether it was sentient or not. It seemed kind of like it was with how it was leading them, but it gave no indication as to whether or not it could understand them. He even tried asking it a question, and all he got was silence. 

Dipper also kept trying to touch it, which the fireball never allowed. He’d get as close as three feet away with his hand outstretched before the fireball would pick up speed to get away from him. 

Bill was walking casually behind Dipper, watching him closely. Dipper didn’t notice, since he was so fixated on the fireball. He also didn’t notice that the trees were tilting slightly away from them as they walked past. Only slightly, not enough that someone would notice if they weren’t looking, which Bill definitely was. He smirked as the trees leaned away from him as much as they could. 

Before long, they reached a part of the forest that was a little more open. There was practically a large circle where there were no trees. It was also a lot quieter. Dipper couldn’t hear any birds or bugs or much of anything, except the wind rustling the leaves of the trees, but since the empty clearing was a pretty decent size, it was faint.

The blue fireball had stopped dead center of the clearing, bobbing slightly as it hovered in place. Dipper stepped forward tentatively, and this time, the fireball didn’t drift away from him. He looked back at Bill with a massive grin plastered on his face.

“I think it’s letting me get close to it!” he whispered excitedly.

Bill grinned back at him. “It does look like that,” he replied encouragingly. “You should go to it.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think this could be dangerous?”

“Nah,” he said, his eyes flicking to the fireball. “I think you should try it.”

Dipper looked happy that Bill was supporting him in his choice and walked slowly towards the fireball again. Bill watched his slow approach in silence.

When Dipper reached close enough to touch the fireball, he looked back at Bill again. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? This is a bit reckless.”

“Pinetree, I’m more than okay with this,” Bill said, and made a shooing gesture with his hand. “Go on.”

Dipper turned back, reaching his hand out to touch the fireball. When his fingers brushed the outer edge of the flame, he gasped. The blue fire enveloped his fingers, and Dipper laughed. It didn’t hurt, he just felt a warm, slightly tingly feeling, as the fire moved to cover his whole hand. 

“This is…” Dipper said, watching the fire in awe. “Really cool.” The fire spread up his arm slowly, and his eyelids began to grow a bit heavy. “I’m… very tired.”

Bill watched as Dipper slowly sat down on the forest floor and grinned. “That’s alright, you can rest if you want,” he said, crouching down next to Dipper.

“Rest…” Dipper mumbled sleepily. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that.”

Dipper almost flopped fully onto the ground, but Bill caught him before his head hit. He sat, crossing his legs, and laid Dipper’s head in his lap. He began to gently run his fingers through Dipper’s hair.

“So, now that we’re spending some time resting, tell me more about your family,” Bill said, watching Dipper’s face scrunch up mildly in confusion.

“Family?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“Y’know, your sister?” Bill prompted gently.

“Sister?” Dipper asked quietly. “I… I don’t have a sister.”

Dipper’s eyes were closed, so he didn’t see the wide smirk that overtook Bill’s face. “No sister, hmm? I must have misremembered. Any other family?”

Dipper opened his eyes and gave him a funny look. “What do you mean?”

“Who’s your family, Pinetree?”

Dipper blinked slowly. “You’re my family, Bill,” he said with complete sincerity. His eyes were wide as he stared at Bill.

Bill grinned softly down at him. “That’s right,” he murmured. “I’m your only family.”

“All I have,” Dipper whispered so quietly that Bill almost didn’t catch it. Dipper closed his eyes again, settling in more comfortably.

Dipper’s breathing began to slow down, and the fire continued to cover him. As this happened, Bill kept stroking Dipper’s hair.

“Pinetree,” Bill sighed out. “You’ve lasted longer than anyone else has.”

Dipper didn’t respond, likely on the edge of sleep. 

“You were more interesting than anyone else who ever entered my forest,” he continued. “They were all boring, small minded nuisances.”

Bill grinned a little viciously. “Actually, the person who was the most interesting up until you was Sixer,” he chuckled. “Good ol’ Fordsy. He was intelligent and quick witted, and like you, fell for easy praise.”

Bill rolled his eyes, snorting a little. “But I lost interest in him, too, just like I’ve lost interest in everyone else.”

Bill pushed back Dipper’s bangs, peering down at the Big Dipper constellation on his forehead. “Not you, though.” he whispered, tracing the pattern almost reverently. “You’re perfect.”

Dipper, who definitely wasn’t processing any of this, hummed slightly.

“Normally, when someone gets lost in here, I have them eat the berries, or any of the food here, and they fall asleep, never to wake again,” Bill said, then smirked. “At least not as a human.”

He looked around at the forest surrounding them. “All the trees in this forest were once lost humans, Pinetree. They became the forest, I made them so.”

The trees, who had been listening, leaned away from them again, as much as they could. “Technically, they’re sort of alive in there, they need to be, since trees are living beings, and they wouldn’t do me any good dead.”

Small roots popped out of the ground and coiled around Dipper’s wrists. “You’ll be a tree in my forest, too,” Bill said softly, before placing a light kiss on Dipper’s forehead. “A pine tree, obviously. But you won’t just be a tree, like everyone else.”

Dipper shifted in his semi-conscious state, edging as close to Bill as he could with the roots now wrapped around his thighs and stomach. 

“I’m going to make you like me,” Bill explained giddily, a mad light entering his eyes briefly, before fading back to soft affection. “Well, not exactly like me. You will be a dryad, tied to your pine tree for life, but you can come out sometimes and be with me.”

A small pine tree sapling sprouted from the ground and grew rapidly. The tree roots that Dipper was entangled in pulled him closer to the tree as it grew, tying him firmly to it.

“I chose the perfect spot for you,” Bill continued as he stood, letting the tree pull Dipper away. “Your tree will be at the very center of my forest.”

The tree, which wasn’t full grown quite yet, but was getting close, slowly began to envelop Dipper, pulling him inside.

“I hope you know this is a great honor,” Bill said, tenderly stroking Dipper’s face before he was fully consumed by the tree. “I’ve never done this for anyone.”

Dipper had disappeared from sight, and Bill nodded in satisfaction, placing his hand on the tree as it continued to grow. “Sleep well, Pine Tree,” he whispered. “When your transformation is complete, when you wake, we can begin our new lives together.”

With that, he turned and strode away, leaving his pine tree until it was ready.

Dipper opened his eyes and gasped. He blinked, looking around in confusion, his eyes blurry and unfocused. He was a bit disoriented, until his eyes locked on a figure in front of him.

“Bill?” he asked softly. His vision cleared, and Bill was indeed standing in front of him.

“Morning, Pine Tree,” Bill said with a lopsided grin. “Sleep well?”

Dipper thought for a second, trying to clear his sleepy head. “Yeah, I slept really well,” he said finally. “I had a weird dream, I think.”

“Weird dream?” Bill asked. “About what?”

Dipper tried to think back. There was a girl, she had long brown hair, and an older man. They were sad, he thought, but he didn’t know why. As soon as the thoughts formed, though, they seemed to slip right out of his mind.

“I don’t remember,” he said, then grinned up at Bill. “Probably wasn’t important anyway.”

Bill smiled, holding out his hand to help him up. “You’re right, not important at all.”

Dipper accepted his help up, and when he was standing, Bill threw his arm over Dipper’s shoulders. 

“What should we do today, Bill?” he asked, like he’d asked every day, for as long as he could remember. He couldn’t remember a time without Bill, and he was pretty sure if they were ever apart for too long, he wouldn’t be able to cope. Bill was the only person that he knew, the only person who cared for him, and Dipper treasured every moment they spent together. It had been like that forever. Just him and Bill.

“Whatever you like, Pine Tree,” Bill replied, rustling his hair fondly. “After all, we do have an eternity.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the epilogue, and it will be pretty short. hope you enjoyed the story!


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand here's the epilogue!

Mabel Pines stood at the edge of the forest. She knew the myths, no one who ever went in came out. Some people didn’t believe that was true, but Mabel knew first hand that it was. Seven years ago, her brother had gone into the forest, and she hadn’t seen him since. No one had. She had felt like her entire world ended when Grunkle Stan told her that Dipper was lost. Her heart was crushed, and she had cried for days on end. She had wanted to go into the forest to find him, but Stan hadn’t let her. He said that he had felt the same way when his brother, Ford, had gone into the forest and didn’t come out again, but his parents and friends had held him back, never letting him make the same mistake as his brother. Mabel had screamed at him that she couldn’t live without Dipper, he was her best friend, and Stan had let her get her anger and frustration and sadness out on him. He understood better than anyone else could, after all. 

Stan had pretty much given up on ever seeing Ford again, though. Mabel still had hope that Dipper was alive, somewhere in the forest. She was determined to find him. She stood at its edge, staring into the endless trees. She thought about Dipper, all their memories together, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She took a deep breath, and stepped into the forest.

  
  


Dipper was asleep, his head resting on Bill’s shoulder, when he was shaken awake suddenly. 

“Pine Tree,” Bill said gently, rousing him. “We have a new arrival.”

“We do?” he asked excitedly. They so rarely got new additions to the forest. He had a lot of fun living here with Bill. He visited Cetus frequently, and there were so many things to discover, but he couldn’t deny the spike of excitement and intrigue whenever they would get a new tree. The forest was so full of life, and he loved when more was added.

“Yes,” Bill said, grinning at his excitement. “I think this one should be a maple tree.”

“A maple tree would be a lovely tree to add,” Dipper said. He was grinning widely, like a child who had just received multiple gifts on their birthday.

“I think you should take this one,” Bill said.

Dipper stood up quickly. “Really?” he asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “You trust me to do this?”

Bill laughed. “Yes, of course,” he said, brushing some hair out of Dipper’s face and cupping his cheek. “I trust you completely.”

Dipper smiled at him with so much awe and admiration, Bill could practically see stars in his eyes.

“And I think you’re ready for this,” Bill continued. “Now, go turn her into a maple tree.”

“Thanks, Bill!” Dipper said. He pecked Bill on the cheek and dashed off. “I’ll make you proud.”

Bill smiled as he watched him go to turn his sister, who he didn’t remember, into a tree. His Pine Tree had come so far. He leaned back against Dipper’s tree, grinning at no one, a manic light in his eyes, as he waited for his Pine Tree to return to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So the epilogue is short, and I originally was going to put in in with the last chapter, but I wanted to put this picture of the deer that I drew from chapter 2 in here too, so I put them together! Also, I changed my username. But anyway, I've loved writing this, and I love you!  
> Also, here's what I think the Gravity Falls Characters would be as trees  
> Dipper: Pine tree (duh)  
> Mabel: Maple tree  
> Stan: Sycamore  
> Ford: Oak  
> Soos: Magnolia  
> Wendy: Sequoia (redwood)  
> Gideon: Bradford pear
> 
> If you have any suggestions for other characters tree types (treesonas), I would love to know them!  
> Well, that's all folks!

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if this was any good or not


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